Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza Canberra

When we drove down to Canberra for the Truffle Festival which runs in the winter from 21 June – late August, we used Crowne Plaza in Canberra as our base to explore the capital. It has a reputation as more of a hotel for business travellers, but we found that it has plenty to offer for leisure travellers like ourselves too.

For starters, the Crowne Plaza has a great location right in the Canberra CBD – a quick stroll takes you to Canberra Centre and all the restaurants and shops in that strip and the bustling bars at night.Walk a little further and you’ll find yourself in Lonsdale Street, where all the trendy cafes like Lonsdale Street Roasters and Autolyse have popped up. If you need to venture further than the CBD, it’s a short and scenic drive across Lake Burley Griffin to get to all the usual tourist activities near Capital Hill (and more importantly, Brodburger which is at Canberra Glassworks!).

We stayed in a King Park View Room at the Crowne Plaza which had a view of the park next door and an outdoor balcony to boot too.

The “room” was actually a huge suite with a separate dining and living room, a small equipped kitchen with stove and ensuite bathroom with tub.

It took a while even for me to find the king bed, since it was hiding behind the divider of the workstation desk.

Needless to say, the King Park View Room was more than spacious enough for the two of us and all of our luggage. The modern fitout of the various rooms in the suite was stylish and comfortable, without being overly plush. The only part of the suite which could have used a bit of updating was the bathroom, but on the upside – it had an extendable magnifying mirror on the wall, which is great for the ladies.

I was also relieved to find that the suite had a proper iron and ironing board tucked inside the closet, which saved me from any last minute wrinkles in my clothing before we headed off to dinner.

In terms of the bed, I was glad to see that the bed was a true king – rather than 2 beds being put together to create a king, which gave us a decent night’s sleep, especially with the extra pillows provided and soft linen.

The hotel itself is also well resourced with in-house food and entertainment – we tried out their Redsalt restaurant for their breakfast buffet, Binara One bar for their drinks and light meals.

Speaking of the lobby, it features a sleek Atrium Lounge which is much more functional than your average lobby lounge. We saw business travellers having meetings in the lounge which has some dividers for privacy, as well the usual scattering of guests waiting around.

All in all, the Crowne Plaza Canberra is a comfortable 4 star hotel which delivers a solid package with its convenient location, contemporary decor and decent restaurants.

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Excuse Me Waiter is a documented food and travel adventure run by two hungry Gen Y food fanatics DK & Yvn. Based in both Sydney and Tokyo, we're constantly on the search for the tastiest experiences, wherever it may be around the globe.